


Caught

by Engineer104



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Light Angst, Lovebug AU basically, Mutual Pining, Post-Canon, probably
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-21
Updated: 2017-09-21
Packaged: 2019-01-01 05:42:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12149838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Engineer104/pseuds/Engineer104
Summary: Pidge gets bitten by what might be called a 'lovebug'. Lovesick Lance tries to take advantage.Tries





	Caught

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Costellos](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Costellos/gifts).



> Takes place in an indeterminate time in the future. Let's say...three years after season 3.
> 
> Inspired by [dadboyshiro's 'lovebug' AU on tumblr](http://dadboyshiro.tumblr.com/post/165517673191/anyway-plance-lovebug-au-where-lance-realizes-way)
> 
> The title is [dubiously] inspired by the Florence + the Machine song of the same name, because that's what I do when I can't think of titles

In retrospect, Pidge wasn’t surprised.

It had been a long time since anything had truly shocked her, shaken her to her core, which was why she couldn’t muster much more than a sigh of  _quiznak_ when she felt the unpleasant prick of a stinger on her neck.

Lance, on the other hand, freaked out. “Pidge!” he said, swatting at the ugly red insect-like creature as it emerged from her helmet and buzzed between them. “Did it get you?”

Pidge sighed, reaching to touch the only skin she even had exposed and, as expected, noting the shallow bump. “Yes,” she admitted.

“Aha!” Lance caught the thing between his hands, like a child grabbing for lightning bugs in summer. “You don’t think it’s poisonous, do you?”

Pidge shrugged. “It would be venomous.”

Lance rolled his eyes at her reflexive correction. “Fine, whatever, but maybe we should get you looked at? Sleep a varga in a healing pod?”

“I think I’m good,” Pidge said, feeling the bump again. She barely noticed it through the thick material of her gloves, and it didn’t pain her at all. There wasn’t even an itch. She would take this over mosquitos any day.

“Hmm, sure,” Lance said, frowning at her. He closed the visor on his helmet and peaked into his cupped hands. “Oh, quiznak,” he breathed.

Pidge’s eyes widened. “What?” she asked. She didn’t like that reaction from him  _at all_.

“It’s one of those…lovebugs Coran warned us about,” Lance told her.

“What?” Pidge demanded, closing her own visor as she stood right next to him. “How can you tell?”

“It’s got those oval markings,” Lance explained with his hands still pressed to his helmet. “And three pairs of wings.”

Pidge put a hand to her forehead. “Oh,” she said faintly. “That’s fine then.”

“But if it’s a love–” Lance cut himself off, looking up from his hands at Pidge. “Oh.”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “What?”

“Nothing,” Lance said.

She didn’t like the strange look on his face, no. He wasn’t smiling, but there was still something sly in the curve of his mouth. “What are you thinking?” she wondered, smirking at him. She used her closest approximation of a  _flirtatious_ tone, not sure if she could make it work.

Amazingly, Lance blushed. “Nothing except how to keep you…from throwing yourself at the first person you see.”

Pidge laughed. “I haven’t thrown myself at you yet,” she told him. She frowned at the ground, kicking a loose pebble. No, that she would never do.

“Guess you’re still immune to my charms, huh?” Lance said, elbowing her in the side.

She couldn’t help snorting. “Sure, something like that.”

Lance still held the bug cupped in between his hands. “How long until its effects wear off, do you think?” he asked her.

“Don’t know,” Pidge said. Insanely, she sympathized for the poor critter; its venom was entirely wasted on Pidge, at least where Lance was concerned.

“Then you just have to stay away from everyone until…” He squinted at her, his eyes drifting down to her neck where the bug bit her. “Until the swelling goes down!” He grinned, looking entirely too pleased with himself.

Pidge frowned at him. “And does ‘everyone’ include you?” she asked him, crossing her arms.

“You tell me, Pidge,” Lance said, smirking.

She sighed. What the quiznak was he up to? “I guess not.”

* * *

Pidge hadn’t been joking when she warned Allura that 'heavy-duty pest repellent’ wouldn’t work on her.

Even now, as he and Pidge drifted towards the Castle, away from the lake he’d convinced her to explore with him while Allura delivered her Voltron Alliance pitch to the local population, Lance could see the tiny prick of red on Pidge’s neck, right in the dip with her shoulder.

He couldn’t help glancing at her out of the corner of his eye the entire way back, wondering when the venom would take effect, and  _how_. How would Pidge act in love anyway? Would she cling to his arm, reach for his hand? Would she laugh at his jokes? Would she still tease him?

(The thought of Pidge  _not_  teasing him terrified Lance.)

What if Pidge fell in love with Hunk or Keith or Shiro instead? What if she fell in love with  _Allura_?

(Not that Lance would resent that. Much.)

Which was why he had to keep Pidge to himself, at least for a couple of days.

Lance swallowed any guilt he felt at that. It was fine, he told himself. Years after shooting himself and his four geographically closest friends into space, years into a war that felt like it would never end, years after he left his family with little hope of seeing them again…

He deserved this. It was selfish of him, to want Pidge to fall in love with him like he was with her, but quiznak, he couldn’t help it!

(Even if it would wear off in a few days. He could deal with that. Probably.)

“You’re thinking pretty hard, Lance,” Pidge said, glancing up at him.

Lance grinned. “Don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt me as much as you think it does.”

Pidge raised an eyebrow at him. “You sure?” she said.

“Positive. Besides, I’m just thinking about…what we’ll do during your quarantine.”

“Quarantines last for forty days, Lance. Also, this isn’t…contagious.”

Lance rolled his eyes and nudged her side. “Semantics,” he said, waving a dismissive hand. “Though falling in love doesn’t seem so bad?” He waggled his eyebrows at her.

To his surprise, Pidge frowned. “Are you sure about  _that_? Because I’m not a fan.”

“Aw, how come? Wait, Pidge, have you ever been in love?” Lance stared at her, incredulous.

Pidge halted in her tracks, crossing her arms. “I don’t know if I would’ve called it… _love_ ,” she admitted.

Lance faced her, beating back his jealousy with a mental flaming sword. “Then what would you call it?”

Pidge shrugged, looking at a point somewhere over his shoulder. “A crush, I guess.” She flushed.

He snickered, pointing at her face. “You sure you’re not still  _crushing_  on them then? You’re really red.”

Pidge turned her head away from him, scowling. “Thank you for noticing,” she said. “Now can we go back to the Castle?”

Lance led the way, though he noticed that Pidge hadn’t answered his question. Was that why Pidge wasn’t succumbing to the venom and falling in love with him? Could it be possible she was  _already_  in love with someone?

But that didn’t sound right at all. Pidge never displayed any preference or attraction to anyone - at least, no one  _organic_. Sure, she teased him, and wasn’t shy about showing her friends affection if she knew it would be welcome. But–

Pidge then grabbed him by the arm, and though her grip was rough, Lance absurdly thought,  _This is it. She’s finally gonna kiss me!_

Only for her to tug him into a bush.

Lance’s visor went up, protecting his face from the bristles. He lay on his back, with Pidge kneeling on the ground next to him, a finger to her lips, then pointing back over the bush.

He frowned at her and sat up, looking in the direction she indicated. When he saw it was just Shiro and Allura approaching the Castle, he turned and raised an eyebrow at her.

“Hey!” she said, indignant. “It was  _your_  idea to avoid everyone today!”

“I know,” Lance said, “but I didn’t expect you to  _like_  it that much.”

Pidge narrowed her eyes at him. “I’m not a fan so far,” she said.

Lance scowled and stood up, visor sliding open now that his face was no longer in danger of being peeled off by thorns and brambles. He stomped back to the path, Pidge hot on his heels.

“So we have to sneak onto the Castle,” she mused.

“Yeah, I’ll go in and scout,” he said. He reached up, messing with his helmet until he found a private communication frequency; Pidge followed suit. “I’ll let you know if it’s clear.”

Pidge sighed and trudged back to hide in the bush. Lance watched her go, regretting their brief spat; it wasn’t  _her_  fault she was bitten by a lovebug! Anymore than it was her fault Lance was taking advantage of the situation.

He shook his head and stiffened his shoulders, walking up the steps and into the wide entrance hall. He glanced around, and when he saw no sign of life, not even a mouse, he softly spoke into his helmet, “The coast is clear. You can come in now.”

“Coming,” she said simply.

Lance leaned against the wall while he waited, and when she appeared, footsteps quiet on the Castle’s smooth floor, he took off his helmet. “So what do you want to do?” he asked.

She shrugged. “I want a scan.” She removed her own helmet and poked the red circle on her skin. “I need to know when it’ll be completely healed.”

Lance turned towards the med bay, and with him scouting ahead, calling back to her every so often if no one else was around, they made painfully slow progress. His heart thumped loudly, anxious, and he wasn’t sure why. Did he just hate the idea of Pidge  _not_  loving him that much?

Why  _would_ she love him anyway? He’d given her no reason to think he was worthy of her affection, not with him restricting her  _exposure_  to everyone else like this.

In the med bay, Pidge held a health scanner up to her neck. It glowed blue against her skin, and when it flashed red, she pulled it away to read the results. “Huh,” she said, frowning at the screen.

“What?” Lance asked, instantly worried as he tried to look over her shoulder. He couldn’t read Altean as well as Pidge could, but he thought he understood the gist of what the device said, and–

“I’m…not infected,” Pidge said, her eyes drawn together as she frowned. “I’m fine, perfectly healthy, no venom here.”

Lance snatched the device away, though he knew she read it right. “Seriously?” he asked.

Pidge poked the bump on her neck without even glancing at it. “Seriously. I’m perfectly fine.” She smiled then, looking relieved. She took the device back, deleting the scan from its memory and storing it back in the cabinet. “So I guess no quarantine required, right?”

Lance, somehow disappointed and relieved at the same time, smiled at her. “Right,” he said.

* * *

Later, once the Castle traveled through space again to the next planet Allura wanted to woo, Pidge found Coran in the bridge.

“Ah, Number Five!” Coran greeted her when he caught sight of her. “Come to tell me where you and Lance disappeared to?”

Pidge felt heat clawing up her neck, but she ignored it in favor of admitting, “Sort of. I have a question.”

“Yes?”

Pidge sat at her terminal and said, “So I think I was bitten by a lovebug.”

Coran approached her, hands clasped behind his back. He didn’t say anything though, apparently expecting her to continue.

She sighed, rubbing her eyes. “When we got back, I did a scan of the bite and…it didn’t read anything. No venom, no infection, nothing. Why would that be?”

“Hmm.” Coran gripped his chin thoughtfully. “Are you sure it was a lovebug?”

“It matched the description you gave us.”

“Well, then there’s really only one explanation for that,” he told her, smiling. “You were already in love with the first person you saw.”

Pidge smirked ruefully. “Of course,” she said. She’d known that, but she just needed some kind of confirmation. Now, if only she could explain Lance’s behavior…

* * *

“What!” Lance burst through the bridge’s entrance, eyes falling on where Pidge slouched at her terminal, Coran standing nearby.

Pidge turned to look at him, face red, eyes wide, and mouth turned into a livid scowl. She stood up. “Were you  _eavesdropping_?” she demanded.

“I couldn’t help it!” Lance retorted, his fingers curled into loose fists. “I just came to talk to Coran!”

“About what?” Coran asked, looking between the two of them. “Pidge’s affliction?”

“What affliction would that be?” Pidge said tersely, eyes flicking to Coran.

“Ah, young love,” Coran sighed, hand to his chest. “I think I’ll leave you to sort this out, shall I?” With that, he left the bridge, the doors quietly sliding shut behind him.

Lance wouldn’t at all be surprised if he still lingered there, listening, but he forced that thought from his head. Instead, Pidge captured all of his attention.

She still looked angry, arms crossed and posture stiff, but the nice thing about that was that she looked directly at him, something challenging in her eyes. “Here to tease me then?” she asked.

“No, not about this!” Lance said, waving his hands. “I would never do that!”

“Really?” Pidge raised a skeptical eyebrow at him. “Then why  _did_  you try to keep me to yourself all day?”

Lance swallowed. Now was the time, now that he heard what he never thought he’d have the pleasure of hearing. “Because I want you to want me.”

Great, now he was quoting old cheesy pop songs.

“Why? Why the  _quiznak_  would you want that? What would it get you?”

“Uh, maybe…requited feelings?” Lance said, starting to get annoyed with her. He walked towards her, not so closely that she was forced to look up, but near enough he could clearly see her face. “Maybe I’m in love with you so I wanted you to love me back. Is that so hard to believe, Pidge?”

Pidge’s eyes widened, this time in surprise. “Since when?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” he admitted, voice soft. “Years, probably, though I’m an idiot and didn’t know till…”  _Till we found out your dad died in a Galra prison and I hated I couldn’t make it better when you cried in my arms._  "Till a few months ago,“ he finished lamely, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Oh,” Pidge said. Her eyes drifted down to the floor between their feet, then back up to his face. She straightened her back and said, “Me too.”

“You too what?” Lance needed her to say it to his face, or else he wouldn’t believe it.

Pidge took a few quick steps to him and flung her arms around his neck, burying her face in his shirt as he returned her embrace. “I love you too,” she said, looking up at him. “I’ve liked you since I was fifteen, you quiznaking idiot.  _And_  I thought it was obvious.” She glared at him.

“Pidge,” Lance said, biting back a giddy laugh, “we idiots need to be told things that aren’t obvious sometimes.”

“Well now you know you don’t need a stupid excuse to have me to yourself,” Pidge quipped, her fingers creeping up into his hair.

Lance’s hands drifted down to her hips, holding her close. “So…now what?” he wondered.

“You tell me, Lance,” she said, throwing his words from earlier back at him.

Lance smiled, slow and sly. “Wanna make out?” he asked.

“What are you, fifteen?” she said, snickering. Though, to his satisfaction, she blushed.

“Are you saying you don’t want to?” Lance said, frowning.

Pidge grabbed his collar and pulled his head down to her level, kissing him soundly on the lips. But before Lance could do much more than squeak in surprise, she pulled back and said, “Does that answer your question?”

Lance grinned, heart beating erratically. He took her hand and said, “Lead the way, darling.”

Pidge scrunched up her nose at the pet name, but she still smiled as she dragged him towards the door.

* * *

“You owe me a hundred GAC,” Hunk informed Keith smugly as they watched Lance and Pidge walk past their hiding place, hand in hand and laughing and looking like lovesick idiots. He held his hand out, waggling his fingers.

Keith scowled, but he reached into his pocket and pulled out what he owed Hunk. “At least buy them something nice with it,” he suggested.

“Yeah, I was thinking a box of space condoms,” Hunk mused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

Keith looked sideways at him. “I’m leaving before you say anything else I’d rather not hear,” he said.

Hunk laughed as he did, then he followed, remembering that Shiro also owed him money.

**Author's Note:**

> If you're curious, yes, I did originally post this [on tumblr](https://sp4c3-0ddity.tumblr.com/post/165532748598/dadboyshiro-anyway-plance-lovebug-au-where)


End file.
